^ On
a 26 December:2006 In Japan,
the Osaka High Court sentences Miyoko Kawahara, 59, of Heguri, Nara Prefecture,
to 20 months in prison for inflicting injury (maximum sentence: 10 years
in prison, $2500 fine), namely insomnia and headaches, on her neighbor by
playing at maximum volume a portable stereo aimed at the neighbor's house
(6 meters away) almost continuously from November 2002 to Kawahara's April
2005 arrest. In a civil lawsuit, Kawahara was ordered in July 2006 to pay
the neighbor 2 million yen in compensation. —(061230)2004
In the Ukraine, is held the rerun of the 21 November runoff presidential
election, which was rigged to make Yanukovich the winner and was declared
invalid by the Supreme Court, after massive protest demonstrations in the
streets. Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko [23 Feb 1954~] wins, with 52%
of the votes, against prime minister Viktor Yanukovich.[09 July 1950~] who
gets 44%.2002The
Washington Post reveals that the CIA
tortures terrorism suspects held in secret foreign locations, and turns
some of them over to foreign countries notorious for even worse tortures.2000 In Beijing the foreign ministers of China and Vietnam
sign a friendship and cooperation treaty which settles a dispute, left unresolved
after a 1989 border war, about fishing rights and the border in the Tonkin
Gulf. Disagreement on other sea borders remain to be settled.2000
La estación espacial orbital Mir pierde contacto con el centro de
control durante más de 20 horas.1999 Alfonso
Portillo, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala's
first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years. — Alfonso
Portillo y el Frente Republicano Guatemalteco, fundado por el general golpista
Enfrían Ríos Montt, son los ganadores de la segunda vuelta
de la elecciones presidenciales de Guatemala.1998
Irak formaliza su ruptura con la Organización de las Naciones Unidas
y exige el fin del embargo petrolífero.1998
Standard & Poor's announces that America Online will join the S&P 500 Index,
replacing retailer Venator Group. The replacement of a retailer with an
online service company in the widely regarded stock market index underscores
the growing economic importance of Internet stocks.1991
La Cámara de las Repúblicas del Soviet Supremo soviético
declara el fin de la URSS a partir de la ratificación del Tratado
de la Comunidad de Estados Independientes (CEI). 1991
El integrista Frente Islámico de Salvación (FIS) obtiene la
mayoría absoluta en la primera vuelta de las elecciones argelinas.
1990 Garry Kasparov beats Antatoly Karpov to retain
world chess championship.1983 Yasuhiro Nakasone,
es reelegido primer ministro del Japón por la Cámara Baja
del Parlamento.1979 The Soviet Union flies 5000
troops to intervene in the Afghanistan conflict.  Osama Bin Laden
leaves Saudi Arabia to join the Afghan resistance (mujahedeen).
1978 India's former PM, Indira Gandhi, released from jail 1975 1st supersonic transport service (USSR-Tupolev-144)

^1971 US jets strike North Vietnam
In the sharpest escalation of the war
since Operation Rolling Thunder ended in November 1968, US fighter-bombers
begin striking at North Vietnamese airfields, missile sites, antiaircraft
emplacements, and supply facilities. These raids continued for five
days. They were begun in response to intelligence that predicted a
North Vietnamese build up of forces and equipment for a new offensive.
At a press conference on 27 December US Defense Secretary Melvin Laird
said the increase in bombing was in retaliation for the communist
failure to honor agreements made prior to the 1968 bombing halt. As
evidence, Laird cited the shelling of Saigon the week before, DMZ
violations--including an infiltration route being built through the
buffer zone, and attacks on unarmed US reconnaissance planes. Pentagon
figures showed that US planes--with as many as 250 aircraft participating
in some missions--attacked communist targets over 100 times in 1971,
a figure comparable to US air activity in the previous 26 months.
The intensified bombing spurred new antiwar protests in American.
In New York, 15 antiwar veterans barricaded themselves inside the
Statue of Liberty and flew the US flag upside down from its crown.
They ended their occupation of the monument on December 28, obeying
a federal court order. At the same time in Washington, over 80 antiwar
veterans were arrested after clashing with police on the steps of
the Lincoln Memorial. 1967 Laos says communists launched an offensive
Laotian Premier Souvanna Phouma reports that North Vietnamese troops
have started a general offensive against government forces in southern
Laos. Phouma reported that at least one battle was being waged near
Pha Lane, but said Laotian troops appeared to be in control of the
situation. On 29 December, North Vietnam denied that its forces began
a drive in Laos, but it was supporting the communist Pathet Lao in
their long-time campaign against the Royal Lao government.

^1966 The first Kwanzaa
The first day of the first Kwanzaa is celebrated in Los Angeles under
the direction of Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California
State University at Long Beach. The seven-day holiday, which has strong
African roots, was designed by Dr. Karenga as a celebration of African
American family, community, and culture.
In 1965, a deadly riot broke out in the predominantly black Watts
neighborhood of Los Angeles, leaving 34 people dead, 1000 injured,
and $40 million worth of property destroyed. Karenga, a former black
activist, was deeply disturbed by the devastation and searched for
a way to overcome the despair he felt had gripped the African American
community in the riot's aftermath. He founded Us, a Black cultural
organization, and looked to Africa in search of practices and concepts
that might empower and unite the nation's African American community.
Inspired by Africa's harvest celebrations, he decided to develop a
nonreligious holiday that would stress the importance of family and
community while giving African Americans an opportunity to explore
their African identities. Karenga
combined aspects of several different harvest celebrations, such as
those of the Ashanti and those of the Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa.
The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase matunda ya kwanza, which
means "first fruits" in Swahili. Each family celebrates Kwanzaa in
its own way, but celebrations often include songs and dances, African
drums, storytelling, poetry readings, and a large traditional meal.
On each of the seven nights, the family gathers and a child lights
one of the candles on the kinara, or candleholder, then one of the
seven principles is discussed. The principles, called the Nguzo Saba,
are values of African culture that contribute to building and reinforcing
community among African Americans. These values include unity, self-determination,
collective work and responsibility, economic cooperation, purpose,
creativity, and faith. An African feast, called a Karamu, is held
on 31 December. Today, Kwanzaa is celebrated by millions people of
African descent all across the United States and Canada.

1962 Eight East Berliners escape to West Berlin in an
armor-plated bus crashing through gates. 1953 The
United States announces the withdrawal of two divisions from Korea.1953 Se realiza en París el primer trasplante de
riñón de un donante vivo bajo la dirección del cirujano
francés Jean Hamburger. [a surgeon named Hamburger! would you trust
him?]1948 El cardenal primado de Hungría,
Jozsef Mindszenty, es detenido, encarcelado y procesado, acusado de espionaje
en favor de Estados Unidos.1947 British transfer
Heard and McDonald Islands (Indian Ocean) to Australia.1945
The United States, Soviet Union and Great Britain end a 10-day meeting,
seeking an atomic rule by the UN Council.

^
1944 Besieged allied troops in Bastogne are relieved
General George S. Patton employs an
audacious strategy to relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne,
Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge. The capture of Bastogne
was the ultimate goal of the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive
through the Ardennes forest. Bastogne provided a road junction in
rough terrain where few roads existed; it would open up a valuable
pathway further north for German expansion. The Belgian town was defended
by the US 101st Airborne Division, which had to be reinforced by troops
who straggled in from other battlefields. Food, medical supplies,
and other resources eroded as bad weather and relentless German assaults
threatened the Americans' ability to hold out. Nevertheless, Brigadier
General Anthony C. MacAuliffe met a German surrender demand with a
typewritten response of a single word: "Nuts.  Enter "Old Blood
and Guts," General Patton. Employing a complex and quick-witted strategy
wherein he literally wheeled his 3rd Army a sharp 90 degrees in a
counterthrust movement, Patton broke through the German lines and
entered Bastogne, relieving the valiant defenders and ultimately pushing
the Germans east across the Rhine.

1944 Advancing Soviet troops complete their encirclement
of Budapest in Hungary.1943 El general George Smith
Patton recibe una advertencia por haber ordenado que fuesen azotados unos
soldados que estaban bajo shock de granadas.1941
Los británicos toman Bengasi infligiendo una fuerte derrota a las
fuerzas italo-germanas de Rommel.1941 General Douglas
MacArthur declares Manila an open city in the face of the onrushing Japanese
Army. Tank Battle South of Manila, Losses Heavy: Fighting Is Bitter: Defenders
North of the Philippine Capital Strengthen Lines: Oil Afire in Manila: Japanese
Planes Go On Bombing Port Area Despite 'Open City'1941
New Enemy Force 280 km North of Singapore.Chinese Join Battle: British Total
of Losses Is Reduced Greatly When 'Lost' Units Appear. British Shift at
Singapore Replaces Brooke-Popham.

^
1941 Winston Churchill addresses US Congress
Less than three weeks after the American
entrance into World War II, Winston Churchill becomes the first British
prime minister to address
a joint meeting of the US Congress. Churchill, a gifted orator, urges
Congress to back President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal that America
become the "great arsenal of democracy," and warns that the Axis powers
will "stop at nothing" in pursuit of their war aims. Four days before,
Roosevelt and Churchill met in Washington, D.C., at the start of their
first official conference, code-named Arcadia. Over three weeks of
talks, the two Allied leaders and their chief advisors agree to set
up the Combined Chief of Staff to coordinate future military activity,
and issue the first United Nations declaration, a unilateral statement
of war aims by the twenty-six nations at war with the Axis powers.
Churchill and Roosevelt also agree that neither nation will make a
separate peace and propose possible Allied landings in northwest Africa
or in France. The "Big Three"--Churchill, Roosevelt, and Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin--do not meet together until the Teheran conference of
late 1943. Less than three weeks
after the American entrance into World War II, Winston Churchill becomes
the first British prime minister to address Congress. Churchill, a
gifted orator, urged Congress to back President Franklin D. Roosevelt's
proposal that America become the "great arsenal of democracy" and
warned that the Axis powers would "stop at nothing" in pursuit of
their war aims. Born at Blenheim
Palace in 1874, Churchill joined the British Fourth Hussars upon his
father's death in 1895. During the next five years, he enjoyed an
illustrious military career, serving in India, the Sudan, and South
Africa, and distinguishing himself several times in battle. In 1899,
he resigned his commission to concentrate on his literary and political
career and in 1900 was elected to Parliament as a Conservative MP
from Oldham. In 1904, he joined the Liberals, serving a number of
important posts before being appointed Britain's First Lord of the
Admiralty in 1911, where he worked to bring the British navy to a
readiness for the war he foresaw.
In 1915, in the second year of World War I, Churchill was held responsible
for the disastrous Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns and was thus
excluded from the war coalition government. However, in 1917 he returned
to politics as a cabinet member in the Liberal government of Lloyd
George. From 1919 to 1921, he was secretary of state for war and in
1924 returned to the Conservative Party, where two years later he
played a leading role in the defeat of the General Strike of 1926.
Out of office from 1929 to 1939, Churchill issued unheeded warnings
of the threat of Nazi and Japanese aggression.
After the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Churchill returned to
his post as First Lord of the Admiralty and eight months later replaced
Neville Chamberlain as prime minister of a new coalition government.
In the first year of his administration, Britain stood alone against
Nazi Germany, but Churchill promised his country and the world that
Britain would "never surrender." He rallied the British people to
a resolute resistance and expertly orchestrated Franklin D. Roosevelt
and Joseph Stalin into an alliance that eventually crushed the Axis.
After a postwar Labor Party
victory in 1945, Churchill became leader of the opposition and in
1951 was again elected prime minister. In 1953, he was knighted by
Queen Elizabeth II and awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. After
his retirement as prime minister, he remained in Parliament until
1964, the year before his death.

1933 US forswears armed intervention in the Western
Hemisphere
1926 The Length of Africa by Motorcar The first overland journey across
Africa from south to north was completed when the expedition of Major C.
Court Treatt arrived in Cairo, Egypt. Major Treatt had set out from Capetown,
South Africa, some twenty-seven months earlier in two military-style Crossley
automobiles. After the difficult trek across unmapped regions, the hero's
safe arrival in Cairo was a major treat for everyone. 1925
Six US destroyers are ordered from Manila to China to protect US interests
in the civil war that is being waged there. 1925
Turkey adopts Gregorian calendar.1921 The Catholic
Irish Free State becomes a self-governing dominion of Great Britain.1917 As a wartime measure, President Woodrow Wilson places
railroads under government control, with Secretary of War William McAdoo
as director general.1916 Joffre es separado del
alto mando y sustituido por el general Robert G. Nivelle. 1909
Se celebra en Hamburgo el IX Congreso Sionista. 1884
España anuncia a las potencias extranjeras que tiene bajo su protectorado
la costa occidental de África comprendida entre los cabos Bojador
y Blanco, territorio comúnmente denominado Sáhara Occidental.

^1878 Electric light in a store, a first
John Wanamaker instals electric lights
in his department store in Philadelphia. Although light bulbs had
not yet been invented, electric light could be generated through arc
lamps, which presented a fire hazard due to their high intensity.
Although scientists had been working for years on developing a safe,
mild, electric light, it wasn't until 1879 that Thomas Edison invented
the incandescent light bulb.

1877 Socialist Labor Party of North America holds 1st
national convention 1866 Brig. Gen. Philip St. George
Cooke, head of the Department of the Platte, receives word of the Fetterman
Fight in Powder River County in the Dakota territory.1863
Por primera vez se aplica la electricidad en Europa con el alumbrado de
los faros costeros del cabo de La Heve (Francia).1863
Skirmish at Sand Mountain, Alabama 1862 1st US
navy hospital ship enters service

^1861 US frees Reb envoys to UK, ending Trent
affair. Confederate
diplomatic envoys James
M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the Lincoln administration,
thus heading off a possible war between the United States and Great
Britain. The two men were aboard the British mail steamer Trent
on 08 November when, near the Bahamas on 08 November 1861, US
Navy Captain Charles
Wilkes commanded the crew of the USS. San Jacinto to
stop it. The envoys were headed to London to lobby for recognition
of the Confederacy. The Southerners were arrested and and taken to
prison at Fort
Warren in Boston
Harbor. The British were outraged
when word of the interception reached London in late November, fueling
anti-American sentiment among the British. The British had not taken
sides in the American Civil War and their policy was to accept any
paying customer that wished to travel aboard their ships.
The British government dispatched a message to the US government demanding
the release of Mason and Slidell and an apology for the transgression
of British rights on the high seas. The British cabinet sent a message
on 01 December insisting that the US respond within a week. It also
began preparing for war, banning exports of war materials to the US
and sending 11'000 soldiers to Canada. Plans were made to attack the
American fleet that was blockading the South, and the British planned
a blockade of northern ports.
Lincoln decided not to push the issue. On 26 December, he orders the
envoys released, US Secretary of State William
H. Seward apologizes, and war with England is averted. The incident
gave the Confederates hope that there was support for their cause
in Britain, but it also demonstrated how hard the Union would work
to avoid conflict with Britain

1861 Engagement at Chustenahlah, Cherokee Nation, Indian
Territory (now Oklahoma) 1861 Union Major Robert
Anderson evacuates Fort Moultrie and occupies Fort Sumter in Charleston
Harbor, South Carolina 1848 First gold seekers
arrive in Panama en route to San Francisco 1848
William and Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia.

^1834 Babbage asks Parliament for more funding
On this his 43rd birthday, Charles Babbage
doom his own quest to build a mechanical calculator on this day in
1834. A prominent mathematician who helped found England's Analytic,
Royal Astronomical, and Statistical Societies, Babbage had proposed
the idea of a mechanical calculator in 1812. By 1823, Parliament had
granted Babbage funding to build his machine, which he called the
"Difference Engine." Babbage's protege, Ada, countess of Lovelace,
helped devise a method to program the machine using punched cards.
Babbage devoted the next ten years of his life to building the Difference
Engine, spending £17'000 of government funding.
To secure additional funding, he submitted a written statement describing
his progress. Unfortunately, Babbage had developed an idea for a new,
more powerful machine, the Analytic Engine, which he mentioned in
his description, convincing Parliament that further investment in
the Difference Engine would be a waste. He received no more government
grants, so he funded the machine's development from his own pocket
until he ran out of money and abandoned the project in 1848. In 1854,
a Swedish engineer finally succeeded in constructing a Difference
Engine based on Babbage's theories. The machine was largely forgotten
until Babbage's drawings were rediscovered in 1937.

^1833 Bank of the US controversy
In the Senate, Henry Clay delivers
a stern rebuke to his arch-rival, President Andrew Jackson. Clay's
actions, delivered in the form of two sharply worded resolutions,
stemmed from the president’s controversial decision to transfer
the government's funds from the Bank of the United States to state
institutions. Clay, however, also moved against the Treasury Department
and targeted the second resolution at Secretary Roger Taney, who was
installed in the Treasury post when the acting secretary defied Jackson's
orders to remove the government's funds from the Bank of the United
States. After considerable debate and deliberation, the Senate green-lighted
the resolutions in March of 1834. But, the pugnacious president was
not one to lay down and simply let the rebukes glide into the Senate's
records; he lobbied the Senate and lodged a formal protest against
the resolutions, all to no avail. However, in January of 1834, Senator
Thomas Hart Benton succeeded where the resident failed and managed
to get the resolutions stripped from the Senate Journal.

^1829 Prince Wurttemberg explores the US West Embarking on the second of three
wide-ranging exploratory journeys in the West, Prince Paul Wilhelm
of Wurttemberg leaves St. Louis and heads up the Missouri River.
Born near Stuttgart in southwestern
Germany in 1797, Prince Paul (later the Duke) of Wurttemberg was the
son of King Friedrich I. As the scion of a powerful royal family,
the Prince could have chosen to live out a quiet life in the lap of
luxury in Germany. But from an early age he developed a passionate
interest in natural science paired with a strong desire to explore
the world beyond his castle walls.
When he was 25, the Prince made the long ocean journey to the United
States, arriving in New Orleans in December 1822. He and his small
company of retainers took a riverboat up the Mississippi to St. Louis,
where the Prince met with the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, William
Clark, who--along with his co-captain, Meriwether Lewis--led the famous
Corps of Discovery nearly two decades earlier. Though Clark questioned
whether the young German prince had the mettle to make his proposed
expedition up the Kansas River to study the regional botany, he granted
him a passport into the interior country.
Clark's doubts seemed confirmed when the Prince was forced to retreat
down the Kansas River by swarms of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. But the
Prince was tougher than Clark realized, and in the months to come,
he traveled up to the Missouri Fur Company fort in South Dakota and
spent three days with the Pawnee Indians along the Platte River. The
young German prince must have finally impressed the veteran western
explorer, for when the Prince left to return to Germany in 1824, Clark
gave him permission to take along Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Clark's
sixteen-year-old foster son, whose mother, Sacagawea, had accompanied
the Corps of Discovery. For six years, the French-Indian Charbonneau
was the Prince's constant companion in his travels in Europe and North
Africa. The Prince returned
to the United States in 1829, safely delivering the now cosmopolitan
and highly educated (he learned to speak French, German, and Spanish)
Charbonneau back to his home. Charbonneau went on to his own adventures,
eventually becoming a celebrated fur trapper and mountain man. Meanwhile,
the Prince embarked on his second American expedition, traveling into
the upper Missouri River country and then into northern and central
Mexico. A third expedition in 1849 took him all the way to the California
gold fields. During his journeys,
the Prince gathered thousands of scientifically valuable botanical,
geological, and zoological specimens, and his ethnological studies
of the Native Americans were thoughtful and perceptive. Also a fine
sketch artist, he provided the illustrations for his voluminous diaries,
some of which were published in German and later translated into English.
He died in 1860 at the age of 63, four months after returning from
an expedition to Australia.

^1820 Moses Austin asks Spanish for Texas colony Hoping to recover from
bankruptcy with a bold scheme of colonization, Moses Austin meets
with Spanish authorities in San Antonio to ask permission for 300
Anglo-American families to settle in Texas. A native of Durham, Connecticut,
Austin had been a successful merchant in Philadelphia and Virginia.
After hearing reports of rich lead mines in the Spanish-controlled
regions to the west, Austin obtained permission in 1798 from the Spanish
to mine land in an area that lies in what is now the state of Missouri.
Austin quickly built a lead mine, smelter, and town on his property,
and his mine turned a steady profit for more than a decade. Unfortunately,
the economic collapse following the War of 1812 destroyed the lead
market and left him bankrupt.
Determined to rebuild his fortune, Austin decided to draw on his experience
with the Spanish and try to establish an American colony in Texas.
In 1820, he traveled to San Antonio to request a land grant from the
Spanish governor, who initially turned him down. Austin persisted
and was finally granted permission to settle 300 Anglo families on
200,000 acres of Texas land.
Overjoyed, Austin immediately set out for the United States to begin
recruiting colonists, but he became ill and died on the long journey
back. The task of completing the arrangements for Austin's Texas colony
fell to his son, Stephen Fuller Austin. The younger Austin selected
the lower reaches of Colorado River and Brazos River as the site for
the colony, and the first colonists began arriving in December 1821.
Over the next decade, Stephen Austin and other colonizers brought
nearly 25,000 people into Texas, most of them Anglo-Americans. Always
more loyal to the United States than to Mexico, the settlers eventually
broke from Mexico to form the independent Republic of Texas in 1836.
Nine years later, they led the successful movement to make Texas an
American state.

1606King Lear performed at English
court William
Shakespeare's play King Lear is performed at the court of King James
I of England. Lear is one of the later works penned by the playwright.
Shakespeare's father was probably
a common tradesman. He became an alderman and bailiff in Stratford-upon-Avon,
and Shakespeare was baptized in the town on 26 April 1564. Shakespeare
married Anne Hathaway on 28 November 1582, and the couple had a daughter
in 1583 and twins in 1585. Sometime later, Shakespeare set off for
London to become an actor and by 1592 was well established in London's
theatrical world as an actor and playwright. He would come to be called
the English national poet and considered by many to have been the
greatest dramatist of all time.
His earliest plays, including The
Comedy of Errors and The
Taming of the Shrew, were written in the early 1590s. Later
in the decade, he wrote tragedies like Romeo
and Juliet (1594-1595) and comedies including The
Merchant of Venice (1596-1597). His greatest tragedies were
written after 1600, including Hamlet
(1600-01), Othello (1604-05), King
Lear (1605-06), and Macbeth
(1605-1606). Shakespeare became
a member of the popular theater troupe the Lord Chamberlain's Men,
which later became the King's Men. The group built and operated the
famous Globe Theater in London in 1599. Shakespeare became a major
shareholder in the troupe and earned enough money to buy a large house
in Stratford in 1597. He retired to Stratford in 1610, where he wrote
his last plays, including The
Tempest (1611) and The
Winter's Tale (1610-11). Meanwhile, he had written more than
100 sonnets,
which were published in 1609. Shakespeare's plays were not published
during his lifetime. After his death (23 April 1616), two members
of his troupe collected copies of his plays and printed what is now
called the First Folio (1623). SHAKESPEARE
ONLINE:
Shakespeare search engineA Shakespeare site

^1492 The first Spanish settlement in America During his first voyage to the
New World, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus establishes the first
Spanish settlement in the Americas. The temporary settlement comprises
thirty-eight of his men whom he leaves with munitions and supplies
on the island of Hispaniola, now known as Haiti. On August 3, Columbus
set sail from the Spanish port of Palos, commanding three ships--the
Pinta, the Nina, and the flagship Santa Maria--and 120 men. Under
the name of the Spanish crown, Columbus was attempting to find a western
ocean trade route to India. On October 12, Columbus sighted Watling
Island in the Bahamas, initially believing that he had found islands
near Japan. He later sailed on until he reached Cuba, which he thought
was mainland China, and then discovered Haiti, which he claimed for
the Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain and named Hispaniola.
On Hispaniola, the expedition traded with natives whom Columbus incorrectly
termed "Indians" as he believed he had been sailing in the Indian
Ocean. By this time, the Santa Maria had been wrecked, so Columbus
decided to leave some of his men on Hispaniola among the natives,
to be picked up during a second voyage in the next year. The two smaller
ships sail back to Spain, reaching Palos in March of 1493, and Columbus
is received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. In September
of 1493, Columbus sets sail from Cadiz, Spain, with a fleet of three
carracks and seventeen caravels on his second voyage. After stopping
at the Canary Islands for supplies, the expedition sights Dominica
in the West Indies, and travels on to Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico.
En route, Columbus finds that the thirty-eight men he left on Hispaniola
during his first voyage have all been massacred by the natives. The
precise reason why has not been determined.

2008
Father Joseph Jia Fuqian, 88, Chinese priest, uncle of persecuted
bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo [1935~] of Zhengding (who is under house arrest
at the Christ the King Cathedral in Wuqiu village, near the Hebei
provincial capital Shijiazhuang,
which is 270 kilometers southwest of Beijing), dies of heart and lung diseases.
Father Jia was born into a traditional Catholic family in Wuqiu in 1920.
He was commonly called “Second Father Jia”, as the second of five “Fathers
Jia” (including Bishop Jia} to be ordained a priest. He entered the diocesan
St. Paul’s Congregation in Zhengding diocese in 1937, and took his first
vows three years later. In 1958 he refused to join the newly established
Chinese
Patriotic Catholic Association, which the atheist Communist government
set up to control the Church, and was sentenced to 20 years of reform-through-labor
in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. In 1981, three years after
his release, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan
[29 Dec 1907 – 16 Apr 1992] of Baoding. (who died in prison, though
in 1981 he consecrated three bishops without any mandate from the Holy See).
Father Jia, despite his age and poor health, insisted on preaching the Gospel
in Zhengding and its vicinity. He founded a Religious
congregation for men in 1987. Father Jia would cheerfully and fearlessly
speak of his hard times in the Xinjiang region. His brave spirit encouraged
the younger generation to defend their faith. Father Jia had a passion for
pastoral work. In his 70s, he would still cycle and celebrate Mass for seven
Catholic communities every Sunday due to the lack of parish priests. One
Sunday during the winter of 1993, Father Jia was knocked down by a truck
as he was cycling from one Catholic home to another. He refused to allow
the truck driver to bring him to a hospital, and instead went on to visit
the four other communities on his round. When these Catholics asked him
about his injured leg, he told them he fell due to his own carelessness.
He examined his injury fully only after returning home and saw that some
muscles had been torn. Nevertheless, even as he was recovering, he still
insisted on celebrating Masses. Father Jia was a model for all priests in
the wake of the accident. In 2006, Father Jia returned to his hometown and
took up residence at the cathedral. He was ill, but even after becoming
bedridden he recited the rosary and celebrated Mass on a little altar on
his bed every day. —(090101)2006 Gerald
Rudolph
Ford Jr., born Leslie Lynch King, Jr..on 14 July 1913 (renamed
in 1915 after his mother's divorce and remarriage), US Congressman who,
on 06 December 1973, was appointed Vice-President (the first by virtue of
of the 25th
Amendment to the US Constitution, of 10 February 1967) by president
Nixon
[09 Jan 1913 – 22 Apr 1994] to succeed the disgraced Spiro
Agnew [09 Nov 1918 – 17 Sep 1996] as Vice-President, and, 09 August
1974, became the only US president never elected as such or as VP, succeeding
the disgraced Nixon, whom Ford infamously pardoned on 08 September 1974,
which contributed to Ford's defeat by Carter
[01 Oct 1924~] in the 02 November 1976
presidential election, so that Ford's presidency ended on 20 January
1977. —(061227)

2006 More than 500 persons
in the Abule Egba sector of Lagos, Nigeria, by explosion and fire in pipeline
which some of them had punctured and from which most of them were stealing
the spilled fuel. Hundred of others are injured. —(061226)

2005 Kerry
Francis
Bullmore Packer[< 26 Oct 2004 photo],
of kidney failure, richest man in Australia and 94th richest man in the
world with a $5 billion fortune, born on 17 December 1937. Packer was the
major shareholder, with a 38% holding, in Publishing and Broadcasting Limited
(PBL),
which owns the Nine
television network and Australian
Consolidated Press, which produces many of Australia's top-selling magazines.
He was involved in a number of other gambling and tourism ventures, including
the Crown
Casino in Melbourne. —(051227)

2005 Anthony Hayes,
38, a schizophrenic, on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans when 9 shots are
fired at him by 3 of some 10 policemen who are surrounding him as he waves
a 10cm-long knife. The police had been called after Hayes punched in the
face an employee of a drugstore where his credit card had just been rejected.
—(051228)

2004 Iraqi police Colonel
Yassin Ibrahim Jawad, on his way to work in his car, shot
by masked attackers, in the neighborhood Al-Baya of Baghdad. Jawad's bodyguards
are wounded.

^2004 Nearly 300'000 persons, most by tsunami, some
by causal 9.0 magnitude earthquake at 06:59 (00:59
UT) with epicenter 30 km deep at 3º18'N 95º57'E, in the
Andaman Sea, 255 km SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. The tsunami
dead include some 240'000 in Indonesia (mostly in Aceh province),
31'000 in Sri Lanka, 11'000 in southern India (including some 4000
in Tamil Nadu state, and 7000 in the Andaman and Nicobar islands,
near the epicenter), 5300 in Thailand, 68 in Malaysia, 82 in the Maldives,
90 in Myanmar, 2 in Bangladesh, 150 in Somalia, 3 in the Seychelles,
1 in Kenya, and 10 in Tanzania.
The earthquake itself kills some 1000 persons and destroys buildings
in the Banda Aceh area of Sumatra, some 250 km NNW of the epicenter.
Some of the dead are foreign tourists
in beach resorts, mostly in Thailand, possibly about 1500 from Sweden,
800 from Norway, 400 from the Czech Republic, 200 from Finland, 100
from Italy, 400 from Germany, 300 from the US, and others from many
countries. In the Maldives, with
an average altitude of 1 meter, the tsunami waves are still 1.3 meters
high and flood a large portion of the country. The tsunami breaches
the walls of a prison on the coast in Pidie, Aceh province, Indonesia,
and 204 prisoners escape. Some
1000 of the dead in Sri Lanka were on the Samudradevi (“Queen
of the Sea”) 8-car train derailed by the tsunami at 09:30 (03:30
UT) just past the Telwatta station, on the Colombo to Galle route.
There are a few survivors. Though
seismologists, in the US and other developed countries, knew of the
earthquake within seconds, and though tsunami waves travel at about
700 km/h, no timely warning was given to the affected coasts, which,
except in Sumatra, are thousands of kilometers from the epicenter.
Some 500'000 persons are seriously
injured and it is impossible to give to all of them the prompt medical
attention they need. Consequently many of them die in the following
days. Some 1.2 million persons
are not seriously injured but lose everything they had. They are left
without homes, uncontaminated water, food, or routine medical attention,
while decaying corpses become foci of infection. Because of this,
thousands more die in the following weeks. The
earthquake itself caused severe damage and casualties in northern
Sumatra, Indonesia and in the Nicobar Islands, India. The tsunami
caused more casualties than any other in recorded history and was
recorded nearly world-wide on tide gauges in the Indian, Pacific,
and Atlantic Oceans. It caused damage in Madagascar and Mauritius
and caused minor damage at two places on the west coast of Australia.
A magnitude 8.7 aftershock on 28
March 2005 would cause some more deaths and destruction.

Today's is the fourth strongest earthquake
in the world since 1900 and the strongest since the 17:36 27 March
(03:36 UT 28 Mar) 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, earthquake of
magnitude 9.2, with epicenter at 61º01'N 147º39'W, about
120 km southeast of Anchorage, that also resulted in a tsunami which
caused 110 of the 125 deaths. It did $311 million worth of damage.
The other two are: — of magnitude
9.5 at 19:11 UT on 22 May 1960 with epicenter at 38º14'S 73º03'W,
in Chile, resulting in more than 2000 persons killed, 3000 injured,
2'000'000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; followed
by a tsunami that caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii;
138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 deaths in the Philippines;
and $500'000 damage to the west coast of the US. — of magnitude
9.1 at 14:22 UT on 09 March 1957 with epicenter at 51º34'N 175º23'W,
in the Andreanof Islands, Alaska. This earthquake and the resultant
tsunami caused some damage but did not kill anybody. Of
equal magnitude 9.0 was the 04:17 UT 04 November 1960 earthquake with
epicenter at 52º46'N 160º04'E in Kamchatka, which killed
no one, but whose resulting tsunami caused some damage, including
one million dollars' worth in Hawaii, where it also killed at least
6 cows.

2003
Ian Broadhurst [06 Jun 1969–] [photo >],
traffic policeman in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, murdered by David
Bieber [03 Feb 1966~] of the US, fugitive from Florida justice, who,
on 02 December 2004, would be sentenced to life in prison. — (051119)2003 Some 25'000 persons in 6.7 magnitude earthquake at
05:27 (01:57 UT) with epicenter 10 km deep at 28º59'N 58º29'E,
in Kerman province, southeastern Iran, 12 km southeast of Bam (29º07'N
58º20'E), a city which had 80'000 inhabitants. Some 60'000 are injured.
60% of the buildings in Bam are destroyed, including its two hospitals and
its main tourist attraction, a 2000-year-old adobe citadel and town complex
[pre-quake photo below] that used to protect the Silk Road. A magnitude
5 aftershock occurs at 06:36 (03:06 UT) with epicenter 10 km deep at 28º50'N
58º21'E (80 km north of Bam). Bam's
citadel was the largest and oldest adobe structure in the world. Built entirely
of adobes and the trunks of palm trees, the city's old quarter dates back
to pre-Islamic Sassanian period (224-637), although most of the monuments
were from Iran's modern heyday under the Safavid rulers (1502-1722). Then,
the city occupied six square kilometres, was surrounded by a rampart with
38 towers, and had a population of between 9000 and 13'000. Located in a
vast plain between the Barez and Kabudi mountain ranges, Bam prospered because
of pilgrims visiting its Zoroastrian fire temple (dating to early Sassanian
times) and as a commercial and trading center on the Silk Road between the
Far East and Europe. Upon the site of the Zoroastrian temple the Jame Mosque
was built during the Saffarian period (866-903) and adjacent to this mosque
is the tomb of Mirza Naiim, a mystic and astronomer who lived three hundred
years ago. The five-story citadel, constructed entirely from adobes, had
undergone frequent repairs over the years but traced its origins back to
the Parthian era about the time of Christ. An oasis in the arid Dasht-e
Kavir region known as the Emerald of the Desert, Bam has extensive underground
water reserves, which have allowed the planting of rich palm groves and
citrus gardens. The city is renowned for its oranges, tangerines, sweet
lemons, and dates. Bam declined in importance following an Afghan invasion
in 1722 and another by invaders from the region of Shiraz in 1810. The city
was used as a barracks for the army until 1932 and then completely abandoned.
Intensive restoration work began in 1953 and had continued until today.
The city has been declared a world heritage site by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

2002 Jamal Nadr, 28, head of an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
cell, killed by Israeli Border Police in Tul Karm, West Bank.2002
Bassam al-Ashkar, 25, and Fanal Shilani, respectively of Hamas
and of Tanzim, unarmed, in a car, shot multiple times by Israeli secret
police disguised as Palestinians, on a street in Ramallah, West Bank. The
Palestine Monitor reports its Palestinian body count of the al-Aqsa
intifada as being 2104, including 185 targeted assassinations such as this,
and 76 of the 185 having been bystanders or killed by mistake.2002
Mahadi Obayad, 19, unarmed Palestinian Ramallah traffic policeman,
shot by Israeli soldiers firing at a nearby crowd of Palestinians who was
throwing stones in protest for the assassination of al-Ashkar and Shilani.2002 Hamsa abu Roub, 35, in Qabatiyah, West Bank, local
head of Islamic Jihad, in the early hours. Israeli troops had surrounded
his home telling those inside to surrender and that they would not be harmed.
All came out, Abu Roub last and firing at the Israelis (according to them).
They threw grenades into the house, wounding him, then rushed in and shot
him dead just inside the main entrance. Later in the morning, Israeli troops
destroy the family home. 2002
Manfred “Man” Gnadinger, 66, of a broken heart or melancholy,
after the oceanside artwork he had created since he came there from Germany
in 1961, was covered by thick black petroleum spilled from the Prestige,
in Camelle, Galicia, Spain. He had used stones, driftwood, animal skeletons,
and whatever washed up, some of which he painted, to create a sculpture
garden that became a popular tourist attraction. On 28 December he would
be found dead “since several days”, in the hut where he lived
as a hermit, clothed only in a loincloth. [photo >] The
tanker Prestige sank off northwest Spain on 19 November 2002, leaking
about 20'000 tons of its fuel-oil cargo before sinking and it has been leaking
more than 100 tons a of oil a day since then, tarring the Galician shore.
2002 Female elephant, hit by train, in the early morning,
at the Pandarphunka railway bridge in Bhubaneswar, Orissa state, India.
She was one of seven elephants returning to the Chandaka Wildlife sanctuary
after an evening crop raid in Kalarahang village. 2000 Janice
Hagerty, 46, office manager; Cheryl Troy, vice president of human resources;
Louis Javelle; Craig Wood, 29; Jennifer Bragg Capobianco, 29; Paul Marceau,
36; Rose Manfredi, 48, employees of Edgewater Technology (an Internet
firm) murdered by fellow employee Michael McDermott, 42, a software tester,
"gone postal" with an AK-47-style assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun,
and a semiautomatic handgun, in Wakefield, Massachusetts, at about 11:00
(16:00 UT). At his April 2002 trial, McDermott would claim that he thought
he was killing Hitler and his staff. The prosecutor would argue that McDermott
is faking insanity. On 24 April 2002, the jury would convict McDermott on
seven counts of first-degree murder, which means a mandatory maximum sentence
under Massachusetts law: life in prison without the possibility of parole.2000 Andre Beukes, 27, policeman, as his speedboat goes
over 50-meter- high Loskop Dam in South Africa. His wife and baby were waiting
for him on the shore.1998 Luan Phi Dawson, from
being hit by a piece of flying metal while waiting to board a ride at Disneyland
in Anaheim, California, on 24 December 1998. His wife and a Disneyland employee
were also injured. 1997 Cahit
Arf, mathematician.

1996
JonBenét
Patricia Ramsey Born
on 06 August 1990, in Atlanta, Georgia, she was the daughter of John
Bennett Ramsey [07 Dec 1943~], and Patricia
Paugh Ramsey [29 Dec 1936 – 24 Jun 2006], Miss West Virginia
of 1977, who married on 05 November 1980 (in 1978 he had divorced
Lucinda "Cindy" Lou Pasch whom he had married in July 1966, and with
whom he had 3 children). In 1991 they moved from Atlanta to Boulder,
Colorado, where they became members of St. John's Episcopal Church
and JonBenét attended High Peaks Elementary School.
Before 06:00, Patsy Ramsey calls 911
saying that her daughter JonBenét has been kidnapped and that
she had found a ransom
note demanding $118'000 -- a three-page letter that the Colorado
Bureau of Investigation later said she might have written herself.
After studying handwriting samples, the CBI concluded that the little
girl's father, John Ramsey, did not write the note but said “there
are indications that the author” is Patsy, “although there
is not enough evidence to conclude that definitively.”
Asked by the police to search the house,
an 13:00 John Ramsey "finds" the body of his daughter in
the basement wine cellar of the family's15-room, 599-square-meter
home. Boulder home. According to the police report, JonBenét
was covered with a blanket, her wrists were tied above her head, her
mouth was covered with tape, and a nylon cord was wrapped around her
neck. The autopsy
report revealed she might have been sexually abused, that she
suffered a blow to her head that left a 22 cm fracture, and that she
died from strangulation.. In December
2003 DNA was taken from blood remaining on JonBenét's underwear.
It was submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Combined
DNA Index System (CODIS),
a database containing over 1.6 million DNA profiles, mainly from convicted
felons. The sample is from a male, but no match was found in the database.
JonBenét had become a seasoned
model and pageant contestant in her 6 years. She held several titles,
including the 1995 Little Miss Colorado. She, like her mother -- the
1977 Miss West Virginia -- appeared to be made for the stage.
25 Dec — JonBenét receives a new bike for Christmas.
That afternoon, the Ramseys go to the home of family friend Fleet
White for dinner, leaving at about 21:00. They drop off gifts at the
homes of other friends on their way home. A sleeping JonBenét
is put to bed at about 22:00
26 Dec  05:30. — Patsy Ramsey gets up early and goes downstairs
to make a pot of coffee. A three-page ransom note found on the stairs
demands $118'000 for the safe return of JonBenét. Patsy Ramsey
says she ran to her daughter's second-floor bedroom, but the little
girl wasn't there. 05:52 — Patsy and her husband, prominent
businessman John Ramsey call police to report their daughter has been
kidnapped. 05:59 — Boulder police arrive, search the house and
take preliminary reports from the Ramseys . 08:10 a.m. — Boulder
Police detective Linda Arndt arrives at the house. 13:05 — Acting
on what he says was a suggestion from police, John Ramsey searches
his home at 755 15th St. and finds his daughter in a windowless, basement
room. Her mouth is sealed with duct tape and a cord is wrapped around
her neck and one wrist.
27 Dec — After an autopsy, the Boulder County Coroner's Office
says JonBenét died of asphyxia caused by strangulation.
1997
07 Jan 1997 — Police find a practice ransom note in the Ramsey
home.
21 Jan — Sources indicate that the $111'000 (it was $118'000)
demanded in the ransom note was the amount of John Ramsey 's 1996
bonus ($118'117.50) as head of Access Graphics.
14 Jul — Portions of JonBenét's autopsy report are unsealed
and the details portray a brutal death by strangulation: deep ligature
around her neck and right wrist, blood and abrasions in her vaginal
area (although no indication that this was caused by prior sexual
abuse), and an 81/2-inch cranial fracture.
13 Aug — The full autopsy report is released, excluding only
the estimated time of death.
08 Sep — Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter releases copies
of the ransom note.
1998
11 Jan 1998 — It is announced that the DNA found on JonBenét's
body, reportedly from the under her nails, does not match that of
any family member.
2006
24 Jun — JonBenét's mother dies of ovarian cancer, of
which she she had first been diagnosed in 1993.
16 Aug— Secret suspect (because of E-mails he sent) John
Mark Karr [12 Nov 1964~], a US child porno fugitive, is arrested
in Thailand; in a press conference he claims that he drugged and raped
JonBenét and accidentally killed her in a failed kidnapping
for ransom attempt; some of the details which he mentions are false,
others are improbable. He seems to be a mentally sick publicity seeker.
He is taken to the US, where, after evidence that he was not in Colorado
at the time of the murder and negative DNA tests, the murder charges
are dropped on 28 August 2006 and Karr is rearrested on the child
porno charges.
25 December: JonBenét is sent to bed at about 20:30. The family
had plans to fly to Michigan early the next morning. Sometime before
dawn, JonBenét is killed; her skull is fractured, she is strangled
with a cord, duct tape is put over her mouth, and her body is dragged
downstairs to a small room in the basement. She is wrapped in a blanket,
with her feet taped together and her head uncovered and her arms above
her head.
26 December: Patsy Ramsey calls the police at 05:22, ahouting "send
help!" and saying that her daughter is missing and that a 2˝-page
ransom note demanding $118'000 had been left by the kidnapper on the
steps of the back stairs leading to the kitchen. The note begins:
"Dear Mr. Ramsey, We have your daughter...  and includes the
words "behead" and "attaché.  It was printed in block
letters and has neat margins. It also makes reference to a Navy air
base in the Philippines where John Ramsey had served. Four misspellings
in the note appear to be intentional. Patsy Ramsey screams for John
and they check the room of their son Burke Hamilton Ramsey [27 Jan
1987~], but JonBenét is not in there. Patsy begins to phone
friends. Police arrive at 05:35 and perform a cursory search of the
premises. They contact the FBI and begin make plans to deal with the
kidnapper. A detective did not arrive until two hours later. Friends
began gathering at the home. At 07:30, John Ramsey obtains the cash
for the $118'000 ransom. FBI agents arrive at 10:30 and set up a wiretap
and recording equipment. At about 13:00, police suggest that John
Ramsey search the house to look for clues. At 13:30, John Ramsey and
his friend Fleet White discover JonBenét's body in the basement.
The door to the room was stuck, which is why the police said they
had not checked it earlier. There is no window in the room. Another
window in the basement was found open with a chair underneath. John
Ramsey removes the tape from her mouth and carries her upstairs, where
he layed her on the floor by the Christmas tree. Guests began trying
to revive her. The Boulder County coronor's staff removed the body
from the house 22:45.
27 December: The Boulder County coroner reported that an autopsy revealed
that the cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation, and her
death was ruled a homicide.
03 January: It is reported that there was forced entry into the Ramsey's
home and that as many as 15 people had keys to the house.
04 January: It was reported that the note had been written on a legal
pad found inside the house and also contained a warning that the Ramseys
prepare for a rigorous ordeal. It was also reported that the Ramsey's
security system was not operating at the time of the murder.
06 January: The Colorado Daily reports that the police had searched
the windowless room earlier than John Ramsey and that the body was
not there at that time.
09 January: It is reported that a cord tied around JonBenét's
right wrist matched the cord around her neck. The Rocky Mountain News
reported that police did not search the room where the body was found
the morning of the 26th.
21 January: Police state that the $118'000 demanded in the ransom
note is the amount received recently as a bonus by John Ramsey.
-- Ramsey
case links --
Theory that her brother Burke, 9, killed her accidentally, but
does not realize it, and the parents are covering up for him (plus
belong to an influential ritual child abuse ring)..
In Boulder, Colorado, JonBenét
Ramsey is found murdered in the basement of her home, several hours
after her parents called the police to say she had been kidnapped.
Over 1500 children were murdered in the United States in 1996, but
none of these murders attracted more media attention or fascinated
the American public as much as the case of JonBenét Ramsey.
During her brief life, JonBenét
was a frequent contestant in child beauty pageants, and was named
National Tiny Miss Beauty and Little Miss Colorado, among other titles.
Professional beauty photos of Ramsey released to the press after her
death gave this particular child murder case a human face, and the
public followed the criminal investigations intently.
On the morning after Christmas, JonBenét's mother, Patsy Ramsey,
calls the police and explains that she has discovered a three-page
ransom letter for her daughter, who can not be found. Shortly thereafter,
according to police reports, JonBenét's father, John Ramsey,
found his daughter murdered in the basement wine cellar of their home.
Her body was covered with a blanket, her wrists were tied above her
head, her mouth was covered with tape, and a nylon cord was wrapped
around her neck. The autopsy report revealed she might have been sexually
abused and that she suffered a blow to her head that left an eight-and-a-half-inch
fracture. After several months
of investigation, with no charges or outside suspects found in the
case, the police initiated an investigation of members of the Ramsey
family. After studying handwriting samples, a police expert concluded
that the hand-written ransom note matched the handwriting of Patsy
Ramsey, although the police doubted that the charge could be proved
in a court of law. One year after the crime, the Ramseys publicly
denied any responsibility in their daughter's murder, although Boulder
County District Attorney Alex Hunter identified the Ramseys as “the
obvious focus of the investigation.” After nearly two years
without an arrest, Commander Mark Beckner, the new lead investigator
in the crime, stated that JonBenét's family “remain under
an umbrella of suspicion,” and that police were still searching
for conclusive evidence. —(060829)

^1943 Some 2000 German sailors on battle cruiser sunk
by the British
The German battle cruiser Scharnhorst is sunk by British
warships in the Arctic after decoded German naval signals reveal that
the Scharnhorst is on a mission to attack an Anglo-American
convoy to Russia. Hitler's navy had posed serious threats to convoys
shipping supplies to the Soviet Union since the fall of 1941. American,
British, and Soviet merchant ships had suffered devastating attacks
in the Arctic, mostly by German U-boats.
Operation Rainbow was the German plan to attack two Anglo-American
convoys as they sailed between Bear Island and the North Cape en route
to the Eastern front. But Enigma, the British code-breaker, once again
provided the Allies with the sensitive strategic information they
needed to anticipate and prevent disaster.
The Scharnhorst, Germany's 31'000-ton battle cruiser, which
had already sunk the British cruiser Rawalpindi, was surprised
by the British battleship Duke of York, which sank it in
what became known as the Battle of North Cape. Approximately 2000
German sailors and crew drowned and only 36 survived.

^1939 Day 27 of Winter War: USSR aggression against
Finland. [Talvisodan 27. päivä]
More deaths due to Stalin's desire to grab Finnish territory.

Northern Karelia: the North Karelian Group completes its offensive
in the Pielisjärvi sector after two days, having forced the
opposing Russian regiment back across the border.

South coast: the enemy bombs Kotka - four people are killed.

Ladoga Karelia: the railway junction at Elisenvaara in the municipality
of Kurkijoki is subjected to intensive bombing. One of the bombs
kills 29 civilians who had taken refuge in a sewage ditch.

Abroad: Uruguay announces it is to send material aid to Finland.

Mexico also promises to send Finland whatever assistance it can
afford.

Abroad: in a speech at the Vatican, Pope Pius XII condemns the
Soviet attack on Finland.

1939 Some 30'000 persons in 7.8 magnitude earthquake in
Turkey, with epicenter at 39º36'N 38º00'E, near Erzincan.1909 Frederic Sackrider Remington, in Canton, New York,
Western painter and sculptor born on 04 October 1861. 
MORE
ON REMINGTON AT ART 4 DECEMBERwith links to images.1896 Margaretha (Margi)
Roosenboom Vogel, Dutch artist born on 24 October 1843.1862
38 Santee Sioux, hanged in Mankato, Minnesota for their part in
the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota. Little Crow has fled the state.1823
Jean-François Huë, French painter born on 01 December 1751.
— more1676
Dominicus Wanto van Tol, Dutch artist born in 1635.1686 Henri Mauperché, French artist born in 1602.
 MORE
ON MAUPERCHÉ AT ART 4 DECEMBERwith links to images.

^1574 Charles de Lorraine
2e cardinal de Lorraine, born on 15 February 1524. He was one of the
foremost members of the powerful Catholic house of Guise and perhaps
the most influential Frenchman during the middle years of the 16th
century. He was intelligent, avaricious, and cautious.
The second son of Claude de Lorraine 1er Duc de Guise [20 Oct 1496
– 12 Apr 1550], and Antoinette de Bourbon, Charles was from
the first destined for the church and studied theology at the College
of Navarre in Paris. He attracted notice for his oratorical skills,
and in 1538 King François I [12 Sep 1494 – 31 Mar 1547]
made him archbishop of Reims. Soon after the accession of the son
of François Ier, king Henri II [31 Mar 1519 – 10 Jul
1559], Charles de Lorraine became cardinal de Guise (1547). When his
uncle Jean died in 1550, he took over his title of cardinal de Lorraine
as well as his numerous benefices, which included the see of Metz
and the abbeys of Cluny and Fécamp. His ecclesiastical patronage
was extensive. He was by far the wealthiest prelate in France.
The cardinal was also very important politically:
as a member of the king's council he actively supported the policy
of French intervention in Italy, and he helped negotiate the Peace
of Cateau-Cambrésis (03 Apr 1559). With the weak teenager François
II [19 Jan 1544 – 05 Dec 1660]
as king, he was, with his brother François de Lorraine 2e duc
de Guise [24 Feb 1519 – 24 Feb 1563], virtual head of government
in 1559–1560. Their policy provoked the Huguenots' abortive
conspiracy of Amboise (19 Mar 1560), and with, at the death of François
II, the accession of Charles IX [27 Jun 1550 – 30 May 1574],
the regent, Catherine de Médicis [30 Apr 1519 – 05 Jan
1589], in hopes of reducing the Guise influence, appointed the moderate
Michel de L'Hospital [1507 – 13 Mar 1573] as chancellor. The
cardinal became less influential in state affairs but continued to
exert religious influence over Catherine.
Although he persecuted the Huguenots, he proposed a French national
council to seek a compromise with them. Rather than an expression
of toleration, this was a means of threatening Pope Pius IV [31 Mar
1499 – 09 Dec 1565] in order
to secure liberties and privileges for the Gallican (French) church.
In 1561 he defended the Catholic viewpoint against the Calvinist Theodore
Beza [24 Jun 1519 – 13 Oct 1605] at a colloquy at Poissy. In
1562–1563 he championed the Gallican cause at the Council of
Trent, but in 1564 he was unable to secure the promulgation of the
council's decrees in France. He retired from court in 1570.

2004 (“dupa Craciun”) Lucian Yahoo Dragoman,
in Romania, according to the Bucharest daily Libertatea,
in a 13 January 2005 false story by reporter Ion Garnold, which is picked
up by news services and published worldwide, and gets him fired on 24 January
2005. The story, accompanied by the photo of a birth certificate (which
Garnod created by altering that of his son), says that Transylvanians Cornelia
Dragoman (from Medias) and Nonu Dragoman (from Turda) had married after
falling in love during a three-month relationship over the Internet. Cornelia
Dragoman is quoted as saying: “N-am putut duce sarcina decat pana
la sapte luni si jumatate, dar micutul e sanatos, chiar daca va trebui sa
mai stea in spital, in incubator, inca vreo saptamana. I-am pus numele de
Lucian Yahoo, dupa tatal meu si dupa calculator, singurele elemente care
mi-au calauzit viata.”. {“Google” might have been a better
name, being more likely to be a baby's first word}2002 “Eve”,
first cloned baby is claimed to be born, in undisclosed country,
to a 31-year-old US woman, whose husband is sterile and of which the baby
is the clone. Clonaid, through its scientific director, Canadian Dr. Brigitte
Boisselier, makes the announcement the next day, claiming to have accomplished
the cloning process. No proof is given, and, to assess the validity of the
claim, consider that Clonaid was founded in the Bahamas in 1997 by Claude
Vorilhon “Raël”, a former French race-car driver and auto
racing magazine editor, born in 1946, founder of the “Bible-based
atheist” (sic) cult of the Raelians,
who claim that an
extra-terrestrial visiting him in 1973 revealed that his kind had created
all life on Earth through genetic engineering.

^1985 Ford Taurus car
The Ford Motor Company had trouble in the early 1980s. Its trucks
were selling well, but its line of cars were unpopular and had terrible
reputations. The company lost $3.3 billion from 1980 through 1982.
As the losses piled up, Ford's engineers were working feverishly to
redesign their line of mid-size cars. Ford turned out a redesigned
Thunderbird and Tempo and managed a profitable year.
On this day Ford introduced the Taurus, the product of years of engineering.
The distinctively streamlined car became enormously popular, lifting
Ford to record profits in the late 1980s. The rounded "jellybean"
shape of the Taurus had a strong influence on the designs of other
auto makers in the next few years.

^
1966 The first Kwanzaa
The first Kwanzaa celebration is organized in Los Angeles, California,
by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor and chairman of Black Studies
at California State University at Long Beach. Dr. Karenga establishes
Kwanzaa as a non-religious African-American holiday that will celebrate
family, community, and culture for seven days, beginning on December
26 and ending on New Year's Day. After the Watts riots in Los Angeles,
Dr. Karenga searched for ways to bring African Americans together
as a community. He founded US, a cultural organization, and started
to research African "first fruit" harvest celebrations. Karenga combined
aspects of several different harvest celebrations, such as those of
the Ashanti and those of the Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa. The
name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase matunda ya kwanza, which means
"first fruits" in Swahili. Each family celebrates Kwanzaa in its own
way, but celebrations often include songs and dances, African drums,
storytelling, poetry reading, and a large traditional meal. On each
of the seven nights, the family gathers and a child lights one of
the candles on the Kinara, or candleholder, then one of the seven
principles is discussed. The principles, called the Nguzo Saba, are
values of African culture which contribute to building and reinforcing
community among African Americans. These values include unity, self-determination,
collective work and responsibility, economic cooperation, purpose,
creativity, and faith. An African feast, called a Karamu, is held
on 31 December. Today, Kwanzaa is celebrated by people of African
descent all across the United States and Canada.

1953 Leonel Fernández Reyna, presidente de la República
Dominicana.1949 Moncho Borrajo Domarco, humorista
español. [No lo vayan a llamar Mucho Borracho Domecq]1944 The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams,
is first performed publicly, at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.1942
Joseph Graham “Gray”
Davis Jr., California Democratic politician who served as the
37th Governor of California from 1999 to 2003. He was re-elected to a second
term in 2002, but on 07 October 2003, he became the second governor to be
recalled in US history. He was succeeded by movie actor Arnold
A. Schwartzenegger [30 Jul 1947~], a Republican, on 17 November 2003.
— (051210)1942 Marco
Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, President of Guatemala (14 Jan
1986 – 14 Jan 1991). — (051210) 1937 John
Conway, mathematician.1937 Étienne
Éyadéma, president of Togo, as Gnassingbe
Éyadéma, from 1967 until his 05 February 2005
death. — (051210)

^1933 FM radio
Edwin Armstrong, an electrical engineer at Columbia University, patents
frequency modulation (FM) radio. FM signals were superior to AM (amplitude
modulation) signals because they were static-free. Armstrong had already
patented other important radio inventions, including the feedback
receiver.

^1933 Dat Jidosha Seizo Company.
The Nissan Motor Company is organized
in Tokyo under the name Dat Jidosha Seizo Co. (It received its present
name the next year). Nissan began manufacturing cars and trucks under
the name Datsun. During World War II, Nissan was converted to military
production, and after Japan's defeat operated in a limited capacity
under the occupation government until 1955. Since then, Nissan has
grown into one of the world's premier car companies.

1923
Richard Artschwager, US Pop artist — more
with links to images.1911 Renato Guttuso, Italian
painter who died on 18 January 1987.  MORE
ON GUTTUSO AT ART 4 JANUARYwith links to images. — (060816) 1907
Leonard
Carlitz, mathematician.1904 Alejo Carpentier,
escritor y musicólogo cubano. 1903 Bosanquet,
mathematician.1893 Mao Tse-tung (or Zedong), founding
father of the People's Republic of China, who died on 09 September 1976.
He wrote Quotations
from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (the little red book MAO
ONLINE:), PM of China P.R. (1949-76) [Selection
in Chinese with translation] — The reverent iconography with Mao's
image inside the sun [image >] equates him to god beaming
on the people of China, one of many ways in which the revolutionary Mao
took on attributes of the abolished emperors. This Mao-worship grew to the
point that people paused before each meal to wish him a long life. His image
was ubiquitous, on posters and on numerous articles and utensils for daily
use. Mao's photograph and his quotations appeared on the first page of every
newspaper every day. 1893 Robert Ripley, US newspaper
cartoonist; founded "Ripley's Believe It or Not!". He died on 27 May 1949.1891 Henry Miller US novelist (Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic
of Cancer). He died on 07 June 1980.1873 Sir Norman Angell,
English economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died on 07 October 1967. 1865 Coffee percolator, patented by James H Mason (Mass.)
1861 Engel,
mathematician. 1854 Wood-pulp paper 1st exhibited,
Buffalo. 1853 René Bazin, escritor francés. 1837 George Dewey, Admiral of the US Navy: Spanish-American
War: hero of Manila: ("You may fire when you are ready, Gridley. ).
He died on 16 January 1917.1832 Sergio Camargo,
presidente de Gobierno colombiano.1825 Erie Canal
opens.1820 Dion Boucicault, Irish-born US playwright
and actor, who died on 18 September 1890.

^1791 Charles
Babbage, mathematician, inventor of a precursor
of the computer. A prominent
mathematician who helped found England's Analytic, Royal Astronomical,
and Statistical Societies, Charles Babbage proposed the idea of a
mechanical calculator in 1812. By 1823, Parliament had granted Babbage
funding to build his machine, which he called the "Difference Engine.
 Babbage's protege, Ada, countess of Lovelace, helped devise
a method to program the machine using punched cards. Babbage devoted
the next ten years of his life to building the Difference Engine,
spending £17'000 of government funding. Unfortunately, Babbage
ran out of funds to build the machine and was forced to abandon the
project in 1848. In 1854, a Swedish engineer finally succeeded in
constructing a Difference Engine based on Babbage's theories.
Babbage died on 18 October 1871. His
machine was largely forgotten until his drawings were rediscovered
in 1937. Babbage foresaw the
computer revolution: The whole of the developments and operations
of analysis are now capable of being executed by machinery. ... As
soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the
future course of science.

1780 Mary
Somerville, mathematician.1759 Johann Georg von Dillis, German draftsman,
painter, engraver, museum director, and teacher, who died on 28 September
1841. — more with links
to images.1755 Balthasar Paul Ommeganck, Flemish artist who died
on 18 January 1826.1734 (15 Dec Julian)
George Romney, British painter who died on 15 November 1802. 
MORE
ON ROMNEY AT ART 4 DECEMBERwith
links to images.1729 (infant baptism) Sir Edward Astley,
4th baronet of Melton Constable, Norfolk, England, who died on 27 March
1802 murdered (it was alleged, apparently falsely, during the 1802 election
campaign) by his eldest son the 5th baronet Sir Jacob Henry Astley [12 Sep
1756 – 28 Apr 1817] who, over those allegations, won £2000 in
damages (and re-election to MP for Norfolk) later in 1802. Sir Edward Astley
was High Sheriff of Norfolk from 1763 to 1764 and Member of Parliament for
Norfolk from 1768 to 1790. He did not stand again at the general election
of 1790. He considered himself an independent country gentleman but he sided
with Rockingham [13 May 1730 – 01 Jul 1782] against the administrations
of Grafton [01 Oct 1735 – 14 Mar 1811; PM 1768 – Jan 1770] and
of North [13 Apr 1732 – 05 Aug 1792; PM Feb 1770 – Mar 1782]
administrations. He was returned unopposed in 1774 and opposed fighting
the US War of Independence, in which three of his sons were engaged. He
had a personal dislike for Lord North, enormous respect for Pitt [15 Nov
1708 – 11 May 1778] and consistently supported parliamentary reform.
In 1785 he proposed a tax on hairdressers, male milliners “and all
others who dealt in effeminate occupations”. He was Grand Master of
the Order of Gregorians or Bucks, the Norwich lodge of Freemasons. —
Benjamin
West [10 Oct 1738 – 11 Mar 1820] painted in 1771 Sir Edward Astley's
portrait {not found on the Internet} after which, in the same year, Richard
Earlom [1743 – 09 Oct 1822] made this
engraving (51x31cm; 360x282pix, 34kb) — Francis
Cotes [20 May 1726 – 19 Jul 1770] painted the portrait of two
of Sir Edward Astley's children (by his second wife): — Anna
Maria Astley, Aged Seven, and her Brother Edward, Aged Five and a Half
(1767, 200x160cm).

Thoughts for the day:Statistics are often
used as a drunk uses a light pole: For support rather than illumination.
Knowledge is a matter of science, and no dishonesty or conceit whatsoever
is permissible. What is required is definitely the reverse  honesty
and modesty. — Chairman Mao (On Practice,
July 1937) — {Mao himself did not put “On Practice”
into practice.}